Conference Notes
Indiana CCA Conference
December 18-19, 2007
Indianapolis Marriott East
Indianapolis, IN
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Presentation Spotlight
| Optimizing Strip-Till and No-Till Systems to Achieve Soil Quality Improvement and Corn Plant Uniformity in the Biofuel Era | |
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Tony Vyn, Purdue University Recent developments in biofuel demand and the rapid adoption of modern transgenic hybrids are changing production systems towards more continuous corn, more intensive tillage, higher plant populations, and ever higher crop residue levels at harvest. Meeting society’s needs for food, feed, and fuel from grain corn, and in the future from corn stover, requires continued refinement of tillage systems to sustain soils and optimize the uniform development of corn plants in all kinds of stressful environments (whether from cool temperatures, drought, nutrient deficiencies, or compaction). The standard chisel plow system used in continuous corn may be the least sustainable of all tillage systems over a 30-year timeframe. But getting high yields with even less tillage means achieving more uniformity in the growth of adjacent corn plants. I will discuss some new developments including automatic guidance in no-till and strip-till in continuous corn, nutrient banding, and operation timeliness that can help guide crop consultants in their recommendations to cost- and soil-conscious corn farmers. |